A Grandfather's Love
by miraleeann
Summary: A one shot that involves Harry and Ginny's children spending the night with their grandfather Sirius. An extension of TWICHB's world.


**Author's Note: Probably the most requested story ever. Enjoy :)**

* * *

"I'm a bit worried," Harry confessed.

Ginny looked up from her dinner with a perplexed look on her face. "About?"

"The kids," Harry replied. His face clearly wore an expression that told Ginny that he had expected her to realize what he was referring to without having to tell her.

Ginny gave him a questioning look, still completely baffled by his words. "Because?"

"Because they are spending the night with Sirius," Harry replied.

Ginny held back a laugh and instead forced herself to take the matter seriously. It was obvious from her husband's face that he had a real concern and she hardly wanted to make light of that. "I'm sorry, why does this worry you?"

"They can be a handful Gin, you know that. I'm concerned that Sirius won't be able to handle it."

"He raised you," Ginny pointed out. "And might I add that he did a fine job of it."

"There was one of me. And I was nowhere near as mischievous as our three can be."

At these words Ginny laughed loudly, causing the couple at the next table to glance in her direction.

"Why is that funny?" Harry asked in an annoyed voice.

"You're serious? You…the boy who put himself into more life threatening situations than anyone else I've ever known? You weren't as mischievous as our children?" Ginny laughed once more before questioning him again. "You?"

"You were no angel either," Harry replied. He tried to make himself sound annoyed but he was having a hard time ignoring his wife's contagious laugh.

"I never said I was Love."

Harry was silent for a moment as he took a sip from his drink. Placing it back on the table he opened his mouth once more. "I'm still a bit worried about the whole situation."

"Don't be," Ginny replied in her no nonsense voice. "It is one night and the kids will be fine. Sirius can handle whatever they throw his way, I'm sure of it."

Harry nodded in reply forcing himself to believe his wife's words. It wasn't that he didn't trust his godfather; if anything he didn't trust his children. They were quite well behaved most of the time, but there was still that small percentage of the time that they were downright naughty.

Of course all three of them had received quite the talking to before they had been dropped off at the home Harry had spent his teenager years in. Harry had actually straight out warned James that Sirius had his full permission to dole out a punishment should the need arise. Of course James didn't believe his father though. His grandfather never so much as raised his voice, let alone punished anyone.

Harry pulled himself from his worries about his children and concentrated on what his wife was saying about taking a holiday to the seaside.

_The children will be fine_, he told himself, _and so will Sirius_.

* * *

"Hey grandpa, did you know that James has almost figured out how to make his own firecrackers?"

Sirius looked up from the game of chess he was playing with Albus, an alarmed look on his face. He half expected to find James with some sort of stick lit on fire in his hand. Thankfully he was still lying on his stomach in the middle of the living room floor, his Quidditch magazine opened in front of him.

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief as James smiled proudly at his younger sister's words.

"Almost," he nodded. "I haven't quite figured it all out yet."

"Please see that you don't while you're here," Sirius chuckled.

James smiled in reply. "I promise if you promise not to tell my mum about it."

"Well that's a deal if I ever heard one," Sirius replied as Albus moved his queen across the board.

"While we're talking about deals, what kind of deal do we have to make so that I can go fly for a bit?" James asked in a hopeful voice.

"Me too!" Lily added excitedly.

"I'm afraid there is no deal there," Sirius shook his head sadly as he attempted to concentrate on his game of chess. "Your mother would have my head if I let you two go out flying this late."

"She doesn't have to know," Lily pointed out.

James smiled widely at these words. He was always proud of his sister when she said something that he was already thinking. "Yeah grandpa and besides we're good flyers, it's not like we'll get hurt."

Sirius chuckled softly at their words as he moved a piece across the chess board. "You are quite good little flyers aren't you? I've always wondered why you didn't join the Quidditch team this year."

"Because he's afraid he won't make it," Albus supplied.

"Shut it Al!"

Sirius raised a concerned eyebrow. "Not make the team? You?"

James shrugged his attention now completely back on his magazine.

Sirius instantly noted how much the boy was like both his father and his paternal grandfather. When he didn't want to talk he would retreat back into himself. Sirius made a mental note to address the subject later as he knew the Potter boys well enough to know that attempting to do so in front of an audience, especially one that consisted of his younger siblings, would not end well.

"So can we?" Lily asked once more.

"You aren't even old enough to be flying."

"Daddy lets me all the time," Lily replied with a serious nod. "He says that I have a natural talent for it."

Sirius smiled at her words as he looked at her angelic face before nodding once.

"Yay!" Lily shrieked causing James to jump up in excitement as well.

"You have thirty minutes and don't you dare tell your parents about this!" Sirius smiled a toothy grin.

"We won't, we promise," Lily replied speaking at the same moment as her brother.

"That means you Al."

"It doesn't mean me!" Albus argued back.

"Who else would it mean?" James asked in an annoyed voice.

"Alright you two head out there and fly for a bit before I change my mind and make you scrub my kitchen floor instead."

Lily laughed loudly at his words while James playfully rolled his eyes. They were both well aware that their grandfather would never make them scrub a floor or anything else for that matter.

Sirius smiled as he watched the two of them rush through the door to the kitchen. Moments later he heard his back door slam shut.

"Don't want to join them?"

Albus shrugged. "Not really. I kind of don't like flying."

"I'll let you in on a little secret," Sirius replied in a quiet voice. "I've never loved it either."

"Really?" Al smiled. His mood appeared to brighten instantly.

Sirius nodded. "I used to force myself to fly all the time with your grandfather because he loved it and then with your dad because he loved it but I definitely prefer to keep my feet on the ground."

"Me too," Al nodded in agreement. "They're mental over it though."

Sirius watched as the expression on the young boy's face changed, He was obviously often feeling left out due to the fact that he didn't share in their excitement.

"That's okay," Sirius replied gently. "You don't all have to always like the same things you know."

Albus nodded. "I know. I just sometimes wish I did."

"I often found myself wishing I did when I was your age," Sirius confided. "Give it a year or so, they'll calm down about the whole flying thing."

"You think?"

Sirius nodded. "I know."

Albus smiled softly. He opened his mouth to reply to Sirius' words but before he could the back door slammed once more.

"Grandpa!" James yelled causing Sirius to jump out without a moment of hesitation. "Lily fell!"

Sirius felt his heart drop as he raced towards the kitchen knocking over the chair he had been sitting on in the process. He raced past James who was standing by the kitchen table looking absolutely frozen with fear and into the back yard to find Lily sitting on the ground sobbing loudly as she cradled her right arm in her lap.

Sirius' mind instantly went back to every time that Harry had gotten hurt while in his care. Though his first reaction was to panic, he forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down remembering that she would feed off of his emotions. If he appeared to be upset, it would only upset her more.

"Okay calm down," Sirius said gently as he scoped the young girl up in his arms.

"What happened?" He asked James who was now hovering next to him. "How high was she when she fell?"

"We were playing a game," James responded with a worried look on his face. "It's my fault really. We were daring each other and I dared her to try and stand on her broom and then she fell."

Sirius couldn't help the stern look that instantly took over his face nor could he help the solemnness that took over his voice. "How high was she?"

"Not too high," James quickly replied in a nervous voice. He pointed to a tree that was nearly as tall as the house. "Like up there."

Sirius closed his eyes for a brief moment forcing his temper to calm down. Lily was still sobbing loudly in his arms, Al was standing at the back door a look of concern covering his face, and James was next to him the fear practically radiating off his body. Sirius found himself wondering how on earth his godson managed the three of them on a daily basis.

"Okay in the house," Sirius instructed James as he began walking towards the back door with Lily still in his arms.

"Is her arm broken?" James asked.

"I don't know," Sirius replied honestly. "I'll check it once we're inside."

Al held the back door open for them as they approached giving James a worried glance as they passed. He knew that if they were at home his parents would be furious at James for daring Lily to do something so dangerous. James wasn't dumb and he knew that Lily would never turn down a dare, especially one that one of her brothers came up with.

Sirius carried the small crying girl into the living room placing her gently on the couch.

"Okay let's see that arm," he said in a gentle voice.

"Don't touch it," Lily warned.

It was only when Sirius finally nodded in agreement that she held her arm out for inspection.

"It does look like there is a small break," Sirius said honestly. "Al could you get me my wand?"

Albus nodded as he ran off towards the kitchen in search of Sirius' wand

"Is this going to hurt?" Lily asked a new set of fresh tears suddenly streaming down her face.

"Not in the least," Sirius promised, "Though I am going to need you to stay still."

"Grandpa I'm sorry I-"

"Here Grandpa," Albus cut his brother off as he ran back into the room, the wand in his hand.

Sirius smiled softly in reply as he took the wand from Albus. "Okay Lil just stay very still okay Love? You'll be as good as new in just a second."

Lily nodded a look of pure fear on her face.

The three children watched as Sirius waved his wand causing Lily's once swollen arm to slowly return to normal.

"You fixed it," Lily smiled brightly.

"Wicked," Albus noted.

"We should probably get a tonic in you as well so you don't have any pain as an after effect," Sirius replied. "You lie here while I go see what I have in the pantry okay?"

Lily nodded in agreement. The tears that had been spilling from her eyes had finally stopped.

Sirius leaned over, planting a single kiss on her forehead before he stood up straight and headed towards the kitchen.

When Harry was growing up he often kept a small supply of the tonics he found himself using most often on a shelf in the pantry. Once Harry had grown up and started his own family he had continued to do so simply for reasons such as this.

It took Sirius all of a moment to locate the tonic he was looking for and then another moment to change the flavor of it to something Lily would actually drink without throwing a tantrum over.

He turned around to exit the pantry surprised to find James standing just outside the doorway a worried look on his face.

"I'm sorry," James said in a voice that sounded as though it were on the verge of tears. "I shouldn't have dared her to do that. I knew she would…it was stupid. If mum or dad were here…" James trailed off with a nervous look on his face.

Sirius didn't need an explanation. He was sure he knew exactly what would happen if Harry or Ginny were present. It was likely the same thing that would have happened had Harry pulled a stunt like this when he was young. In Sirius' opinion though that was different; it wasn't Harry standing in front of him but rather James. Although the child was a lot like his father, the main difference in Sirius' eyes is that he wasn't solely responsible for raising James.

"Hey now," Sirius said softly. "Accidents happen and Lily is fine."

"You aren't mad?" James asked in a worried voice.

"Not at all," Sirius answered honestly. "Though in the future I'd appreciate it if you didn't dare your little sister to do anything quite so dangerous."

"Deal," James nodded. "And mum and dad?"

"Won't hear about this from me," Sirius promised with a wink.

* * *

Sirius smiled to himself as he sat in his armchair. It was nearly midnight and he had finally managed to get all three of the children upstairs and into bed. He was beyond exhausted, but it was a nice kind of tired; the kind of tired that came with spending a full day with children.

He was proud of himself. He had managed to keep all three of them alive and well and hadn't resorted to so much as raising his voice even once. He also hadn't had to call in reinforcements though he had had an owl prepared to summon Hermione at a moment's notice.

He felt an undeniable feeling of warmth rush through his body as he thought about the events of the evening and how much he had enjoyed having the company of the three of them.

He picked up his glass, enjoying the last sip of his nightcap when he heard footsteps come down the staircase.

A moment later James' entered the room with a tired look on his face.

"Trouble sleeping?" Sirius inquired with a grin.

"A bit," James admitted. "And I forgot my magazine down here I was going to read it in bed."

Sirius watched as the young boy retrieved his magazine from the floor and headed for the doorway once more.

"Night Grandpa."

"What is the real reason that you haven't tried out for Quidditch?" Sirius asked before he could stop himself.

"Promise you won't tell," James asked in a small voice his back still facing his grandfather.

"Promise," Sirius replied without a moment of hesitation.

James slowly turned around letting out a sigh as he did. "I don't want to make the team and have people think that it's just because of my last name."

"James," Sirius replied in a sad voice. "You can't let what others think control how you live your life."

James shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"Of course it is! You love to fly and you love Quidditch! Why shouldn't you be able to participate in something you love, something that you would likely excel at?"

"You think I'd be good?" James asked in a curious voice.

"You bet your arse I do," Sirius replied seriously.

James chuckled softly at the slip of the bad word.

"Maybe I will try out this year."

"That's the spirit," Sirius smiled brightly. "And if anyone gives you any shit about it you send them to me!"

James smiled widely as he nodded, "Definitely."

"Good. Now off to bed with you before I am explaining to your parents why you're cranky tomorrow."

James nodded with a smile. "Night Grandpa, love you."

Sirius smiled softly as the warm feeling rushed through his body once more. "And I love you."


End file.
